Retort



E. W. HOPPER.

RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a. 1919.

1 33 1 6366., I Patented Feb. 17,1926.

I Z SHEETS-SHEET Rman' aM c Wm E. W HOPPER.

RETORT.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8. H319,- .1 331,066. Patented Feb. 17,1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- 5 F1? or 2 /4 .4 26 y 1 I v F retorts in which cann;

' Washington,

w. non-n. orlsna'rrm wasnmeron;

Toall'whomitmay concern: v

Be it known that I, Ennns'r W. Horrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the .county of King and State of have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in 'Retorts, which the followin ,isggj specification. Y

My invention re at improvements in ed"foods.-.are adapted to be cooked by the u f steam and the object of minvention provide a retort in which t e cooking will be continucus, the cans of food entering at one end of the retort and aftdr the food is cooked being dischargedat the other end of the retort..

A further objectis to provide a retort in which the device wherein the canned food is cooked may be rotated byintermittent movements so that each can will be turned completely over during the process of cooking. i

A still further object is to provide a retort having cooking receptacles of novel and eflieient construction an I having novel and efiicient means whereby the steam is introduced into said cooking receptacles.

A still further object is to provide a retort that is compact in its form of construction and that has a relatively large capacity in pro ortion to its size.

he invention consists in the novel con-- struction, adaptation and combination 0t arts of a retort for steam cooking canned oods as will be more clearly hereinafter described and claimed.

I accomplish these objects by' devices lllllS- trated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Y Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in cross-section of a retort constructed in accordancewith my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same parts thereof being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section on broken line 3, 3 of Fig. 2; and

-Fig. i is a view partly in cross-section and parity in ,elevation on broken line 4, 4

of Fi i.

fie erring to the drawin s, throughout which like reference numera indicate like parts,-the numerals 5 and 6' designate two brackets that are provided on their upper portions with'cliss 7 which serve to rigidly clamp the two en s of a hollow shaft or support 8. The bracket 5 is preferably of mom.

I Indication 0t. Letters Patent. Application classmate: a, me. sens! no. sauce.

than the-bracket 6 so that-the shaft 8 is supported in an inclined position with res ct to the horizontal.

. otatably mounted on the shaft 8 are two spaced apart circular headers 10 and 11 that are connected with each other b a plurality of, rectangularly shaped con Hits 12 armte greater height or is mounted on a, higher 7 ran ed in cylindrical formation as shown in ig. 3 each of said conduits having an unobstructed passageway from the outer face of one header to the outer face of the opposite header so that cans may freely move therethrough, the everal conduits and the two headers constituting a retort cage that isadapted to be rotated. V

The outer faces of the two headers 10 and 11 are flat and smooth and ar e arranged to bear against the inner faces of two circular end plates 13 and 14, the surfaces of the end plates 13 and 14 bein provided with arouate rooves or channe s 15 and 16, as shown in ig. 4, that register with the openings at the ends of the conduits 12 but which terminate before they intersect the notches 17 and 18 in tlieupper peripheral portions of the end plates 13 and 14.

The end late 14 is rigidly secured to the shaft 8 an the end p-late13 is splined on said shaft 8 and is urged toward the retort roper by a compression spring 20 that is rposed between it and the bracket 5 and that serves to hold the plates 13 and 14.- in steam tight contact with the headers 10 and 11.

'The arcuate channels 15 and 16 are connected with pipes 21 and 22 through which steam may be admitted to and drawn from said channels, the ipes 21 and 22 preferablybeing rovide with valves, not shown, by which t e inlet and outlet of steam may be controlled. f

The notch 17 is connected with a feed chute 23 through which cans 24: are admitted and the notch 18 is connected with a discharge chute 25 through which cans are discharged. The chutes 23 and 25 are substantially parallel with the axis of the retort and the inclination of the retort is just sufficient to cause the cans to roll freely therein.

charge position will bring the conduit that Patented Feb. 17', 1920.

.. can inlet chute 23 and cans that are to be sub ected to the cooking was just emptied into alinement with the permit it to fill'with process. After a conduit 12 has been filled with fresh cans the next rotary movement that is imparted to the retort will bring the freshly filled conduit into registration with the steam grooves 15 and 16 thereby causing such conduit to be filled with steam for the purpose of cooking the food contained in said cans. The cans will remain in the steam durin the time that the retort is making substantlally one complete revolution or until the conduit arrives again at the discharge position during which time the cans will have been turned completely over and subjected to the heat of the steam on all sides. M 1

Any suitable mechanism may be rovided for rotating the retort cage forme by the two headers 10 and 11 and'the can conduits 12,, as, for instance, the conduits 12 may be secured to an encircling ratchet ring 26 that is arranged to be engaged by a pawl 27 having a bifurcated lower end 28 that fits over a shaft 29 that is journa-led in brackets 30.

The pawl 27 is held in engagement with the ring 26 by a tension spring 31 that is secured to a bracket 32 and such pawl is provided with a pin 33 that is arranged to be enga ed by a cam 34 which is secured to the s aft 29 and is adapted to lift the pawl from the position shown by full lines to the position shown b broken lines each time the shaft is rotate to thereby impart ,a movement to the retort cage equal to the distance between two successive can chutes 12.

The shaft 30 will preferably be rotated by suitable power driven devices, not shown, which are timed so that the cansare left in the steam for a desired length of time during the movement of each conduit chute from the filling to the discharge position.

The conduits 12 will referably be insulated on the outside wit asbestos or other similar material to prevent excessive loss of heat b radiation.

In t e operation of my retort steam may be admitted to the grooves 15 and 16 and cans containing food may be fed into the conduits 12 throu h the chute 23. As the retort cage rotates t e conduits 12 will be successively filled with cans and moved into reg-f istration with the grooves 15 and 16. After the retort cage 4 0 most onecom'plete revolution the condu t 12 that was first filled will-arrive at the -discharging position and "will discharge its cans through the chute 25. The process is 4 then continuous as long as cans are fed to the machine, one conduit discharging and the preceding conduit bein filled each time the retort cage is advance N" has been rotated through 9.1-

Obviously changes may be made in the form of construction and arrangement of parts of my invention without departing rom the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A retort of the class described, com-- prisin two headers mounted for rotation in space apart relation, a pluralit of can conduits extending between said eaders and arranged in cylindrical formation each of said can conduits having a passageway through both of said headers, and platesin contact with both of said headers, said plates having means for permitting the introduction of steam to said conduits and being provided with notches through which cans may enter and be discharged from said conduits.

2. A retort of the class described, comprising two'spaced apart headers mounted for rotation, a plurality of can conduits extendin between said headers and arranged in cylindrical formation, each of said can conduits having a passageway through both of said headers, a non-rotatably mounted plate in contact with the outer face of each of said headers, each of said plates having a notch in its upper portion affording access to said conduits and being provided with an arcuate groove that terminates before it intersects said notch and that registers with said conduits, and means for admitting steamto said arcuate grooves.

3. A retort of the class described, comprising two spaced apart headers mounted for rotation on an axis that is inclined slightly with respect to the horrzontal, can conduits extending between said headers and arranged in cylindrical formation said can conduits having a passageway through both of said headers, means for rotating said conduits and headers by intermittent movements, a non-rotatably mounted end plate yieldingly held in contact with the outer face of each of said headers, each of said plates having a notch in the upper porrality of can conduits extendingv between said headers and lates 'eldingly eng g the outer fa s .0 said 'eaders, said p ateshaving means .for communicating steam to said headers. I

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my namethis 26th dayof Apgust A. D. 1919, ygEBNEST HOPPER.

Leo 

